Sentencing Is Delayed For Indigent Defendant

Published: February 15, 1994

ATLANTA, Feb. 14—
A county judge has postponed a sentencing hearing that was scheduled for today in the case of Jimmy Davis, a 23-year-old convicted of murdering a convenience store clerk in a robbery attempt last March.

Mr. Davis's case was the subject of an article that appeared today in The New York Times about the quality of defense representation typically given indigent defendants facing the death penalty.

The judge in the case, Malcolm Street Jr. of the Calhoun County Circuit Court, said in a telephone interview that he was postponing the sentencing until March 4 because there had been delays in the completion of a presentence report by the County Probation Department. The report is to include the convicted man's criminal history, family history, personal references and an interview with Mr. Davis.

Mr. Davis, a black, high school dropout, was convicted on Dec. 11 of shooting Johnny Hazle, a 50-year-old, white clerk at a combination convenience store and gas station in Anniston.

A jury convicted Mr. Davis after 90 minute of deliberation and went on to recommend to Judge Street that he impose the death penalty on Mr. Davis rather than the only alternative, life in prison.

The Times article about the case detailed the efforts by Mr. Davis's two court-appointed defense lawyers. Death penalty experts said the case demonstrated shortcomings commonly found in the defense of indigent suspects in capital cases.